Hi everyone
Do any of you have any advice on taking the above while on Levothyroxine. I believe it can lower Cortisol levels but may impact on the thyroid.
I have hypothyroidism . I’m showing all the symptoms of increased cortisol levels . Would you advise that I get a blood test first.
I asked my GP if Ashwagandha would be safe and she told me to ask a pharmacist. I asked a pharmacist and he told me to ask my GP… so now I’m stuck so any advice would be great
Thank you all
looking at previous posts, your thyroid levels and vitamin levels probably not optimal yet
More important to test these
Cortisol will resolve itself once Ft4 and Ft3 are correct levels
Come back with new post once you get full thyroid and vitamin test results
Hi, I’m a herbalist with hashi’s. I add Ashwaghanda into a formula. I can’t see why it wouldn’t be safe. Why are you thinking of taking it?
I think my cortisol levels maybe a bit high . Weight gain round my middle , aches , difficulty sleeping and some one at work recommended it to me but I don’t know enough about it to make a reserved judgement
I would look at other herbs - chamomile (matricaria) for instance. Don't take if allergic to compositae plants (like mugwort). Otherwise safe to take. Take away from iron supplementation. Don't underestimate how good this plant is.
Holy Basil/Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum/sanctum). Amazing plant of the mint family.
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora).
Linden/Lime flowers (Tilia europaea). As chamomile with iron absorption.
All of these herbs would be safe (unless of course rare allergy). I would suggest take as teas - infuse at least ten minutes and drink abut three cups a day. If using teabags - use two for medicinal purposes. They are all tasty. Get from a good supplier to avoid cross contamination. If in UK look at Baldwins or Indigo. Lots of research out there for these herbs. 
That’s brilliant advice .. thank you I will do some research
If you decide to take capsules be very careful. I bought some from Amazon that were a brand I didn’t recognise, which made me get up in the night to pee sometimes several times. When I googled I found that if the root is included then it can have this effect. Go for a well known brand.
To be honest be sure why you are exhibiting hypo thyroid symptoms . How is your Iodine and Selenium levels . Sadly most of us were put on Levo. because of symptoms which were actually a nutritional deficiencies. Then there are such things as Soy all 75 places it can be found that act as hormonal disruptor . Levo is a powerful hormone replacement that can send you on a roller coaster for the rest of your life. I was wrongly diagnosed and it led to low grade hypertension and 2 more drugs within 12 months. Was able to get weaned off to my primary care doctor's displeasure , but I endured 4 3/4 years of a hellish roller coaster! I watch my diet and monitor symptoms of nutritional deficiencies , but my health has been permanently damaged . Currently I am taking Sea Kelp Iodine 225mcg daily and Selenium 200 mcg daily . Seriously symptoms are just that symptom and not a medical diagnosis. You need to know why you have that symptom aka what is out of balance . There is a physician on You Tube that has some good selfcare guidance . I believe his name last name is Berg. Seriously these drugs are nothing to play with . It is far easier to correct a nutritional imbalance than come back from the affects of hormones on your body. Hope I have been some help
Thank you for your advice . I will certainly look into it
About 10 years ago I thought I had low cortisol. I had multiple health problems at the time and I didn't know what was causing most of mine but I felt absolutely dreadful. I bought a cortisol saliva test, carried out the test and sent it off to the lab, then went on holiday for two weeks. During that two weeks I took an adrenal glandular because I was so sure that my cortisol was low. I felt even worse on taking the glandular but I knew this was quite common.
When I got home from my holiday my results were waiting for me and they showed that my cortisol was over the range in saliva sample 1, 3 and 4 and was very nearly top of the range for sample 2.
I stopped the adrenal glandular immediately and then started the hunt for a treatment which might reduce my cortisol. I ended up eventually finding that Holy Basil reduced my symptoms, but sadly I can no longer do saliva tests because I produce almost no saliva these days.
I had a blood test (which is not as informative as a saliva test) for early morning cortisol a few months ago and my result was 574 (166 - 507), so still rather high, but not as bad as it used to be. I've been taking Holy Basil since 2015 and have been slowly reducing my dose since I began it, but am now taking a dose as low as I can go without getting symptoms of high cortisol again.
I did try Ashwagandha when I first started trying to reduce my cortisol but couldn't stick with it because it made me very nauseous.
Thank you … that’s really useful
I forgot to mention that confusing the symptoms of low and high cortisol is quite common. This is why we suggest never relying on how you feel and actually get tested for important things like cortisol.
For cortisol - a four part saliva test, preferably one that includes DHEA. The best ones are the Regenerus Labs one, and there is also a fairly good one from Genova Diagnostics. The Regenerus test is carried out like standard home test - follow the instructions then send the samples back to the lab through the post. But the GD test is more difficult. They won't deal directly with patients, and so there has to be a middleman somewhere, and the way of dealing with that is shown in the starred link below :
thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...
regeneruslabs.com/products/...
*** thyroiduk.org/testing/priva...
gdx.net/uk/products/adrenal...
And I just wanted to say, I'm shocked by the huge price increase in the Regenerus test since I last saw it - it must have risen by 50% in the last few months !!!
Titration of blood tests newly diagnosed 
Please can I have advice on chemist won’t always prescribe mercury pharma 
Ashwagandha
Second GP visit following private Thyroid Panel
Saliva cortisol/DHEA Test done before menstral or during. Does it effect? Can any females help?
